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Johannesburg - South African all-rounder JP Duminy will utilise shock-wave therapy in order to aid the recovery of his troublesome left knee.
According to the supersport.com website, The 30-year old middle-order batsman and off-spinner was withdrawn from the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against Australia due to a chronic patella tendinopathy to his left knee.
Duminy said there is no conclusive rehabilitation program that will guarantee instant results. “We will have to see how the tendon responds over the next few weeks.
“We will have to play it by ear,” he remarked in answering a question whether he will be ready to face the West Indian Islands in the first Test from 17th December at SuperSport Park in Centurion as South African number-six batsman and valuable fifth bowler.
Proteas team manager, Dr Mohammed Moosajee, recently explained that Duminy aggravated his long-standing knee injury during the current T20 series against Australia.
This is the same injury that plagued him during the Tri-series in Zimbabwe and caused him to miss the Champions League T20. Duminy said wear and tear was a factor that caused the factor. The leg was also weakened as a result of the 7-month lay-off due to a patellar tendon rapture in Australia.
The past ten months has been one of Duminy’s most prolific and successful of his career. As a three-in-one-package, the gifted allrounder contributed richly to South Africa’s move back to the summit of the global test rankings and to number two on the ODI-rankings of the International Cricket Council.
He took seven wickets in the Test series against Australia and averaged 44.60 while contributing a potentially career-defining 123 at Axxess St. George’s. The stylish left-hander also struck an unbeaten 100 in the first test against Sri Lanka and averaged 57 in the historic Test-series win while nabbing out five batsmen with his improved slow bowling.
“I know it is a cliché, but hard work, putting in the hours and paying attention to detail have contributed to my improvement.
“I have had clear plans and have worked hard on specific skills. When I had to face spin, I put in extra hours and had trained on my sweeps.
“When it was facing fast bowling, I put in the hard yards on that,” he said.
Duminy is no longer considered a part-time or occasional bowler. He has been bracketed as an allrounder when team announcements were made on TV-programs on the morning of the first day of a Test or ODI.
“I have had more opportunities to bowl in all format, and consequently, I have become more consistent,” he added.
Peter Kirsten, a former South African stalwart, said in a worst-case scenario of Duminy being ruled out of a first test against the Windies, a like-for-like replacement looks unlikely. “It might be better to include a specialist batsman. Both Rilee Rossouw and Stiaan van Zyl have done well lately.”
Rossouw smashed 231 for South Africa A against Australia A in a non-official Test in the South African off-season in 2014.
Van Zyl finished with 933 runs in the Sunfoil Series in 2013/2014 and was subsequently included as additional batsman in the test squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Jimmy Cook, another former SA Test batsman, said if he is forced to make a choice between Van Zyl and Rossouw in case Duminy is ruled out of a first test, he would lean in the direction of Van Zyl.
He said Van Zyl would complement Quinton de Kock well in the middle order.
“Stiaan’s ability to leave the ball outside the off-stump and his judgement might just give him the edge,” he said.
